Front door ID camera IPC-HDBW4231F?

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I know this isn't the official thread for this camera, but it since it is one regarding the use of this camera at the front door I think it's worth mentioning that I'm having some major heat related focus shift problems. My front door faces south, and while I did my best to minimize its exposure to the sun I'm finding that once it starts to heat up that everything is becoming a blur past about 1ft. I've read another thread on here about a different Dahua camera having the same problem and it seems to be confined to the fixed lens, fixed focal length models. None of my turret cameras that see far more sun a day than this one are exhibiting any problems. When it starts to cool off it comes back into focus. I'm a photographer by trade and I'm aware of radiational heat waves that cause sharpness issues, but this looks to be something entirely different.

Thoughts?

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just some dude said:
Well, maybe a glare from the sun? Try running WDR and see if it acts better?Which lens is it?
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I’ve run it with and without the dome to see if it was part of the problem (same result), and WDR is always running because of the white walls. The still frame I posted was taken after it had gone back into the shadow as evident by the near wall that it’s on. It will return to normal sharpness/focus once it gets later into the day. I’ll look back from another camera that sees it to determine how much direct sun it’s getting a day. I really don’t get any glare otherwise even when the sun is on it.

Edit - And it's the 2.8 lens. I have another one of these cameras that is in my garage with the 3.6 lens with no problems, but it obviously doesn't see any sun.
 
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Is picture fine all day long on a cloudy day? Running any schedule that changes the camera settings automatically? For what its worth, my 2.8mm only seems truely focused and sharp at very short distances.
 
Here is a still of mine. I too am running WDR. Not as clear as I would like. I think the 3.6 would have been more ideal here.
 

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just some dude said:
Is picture fine all day long on a cloudy day? Running any schedule that changes the camera settings automatically? For what its worth, my 2.8mm only seems truely focused and sharp at very short distances.
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just some dude said:
Here is a still of mine. I too am running WDR. Not as clear as I would like. I think the 3.6 would have been more ideal here.
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But yours is still sharp at least 10ft out. Mine goes completely soft past about 1ft once the sun gets to it.

Mine was doing great all day long until the sun position changed enough to hit it directly for about 3 hours a day staring at 9:15am and ending around 12:15pm. I'm running a full time "regular" profile schedule all day long since I found a good balance of what works through the night. I'm not sure what would help with the actual camera going soft like that though since that's clearly an optics or a sensor "problem"
 
I see, how old? Maybe you can have warranty? Worth a try.

I'd be tempted to place a 3.6mm in corridor mode, then the wall may not be in the picture, better ID also. Just a thought. I've almost changed mine out a few times, better things to do for now.
 
just some dude said:
I see, how old? Maybe you can have warranty? Worth a try.

I'd be tempted to place a 3.6mm in corridor mode, then the wall may not be in the picture, better ID also. Just a thought. I've almost changed mine out a few times, better things to do for now.
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Brand spanking new. We tried it in corridor mode and it sees too much sky. Where it's positioned now it gets to the top of the head of someone just over 6ft tall and it's a very nice shot of their face. Very easy to identity. We also tried the 3.6 and it was too narrow for that little cove that it's in.
 
I also adjusted it to its current position after I noticed it starting to go blurry. There used to be more of the wall on the left in the frame than the right, but it didn't make any difference. These cameras are fixed focus (and no autofocus) with a very large field of view, so for it to make such a noticeable shift is pretty drastic.
 
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YYZed said:
Directly from Andy

Also, I need to find that other thread regarding a similar problem with fixed focal length cameras and the sun. I recall someone coming to the conclusion that the sensor was shifting as it heated up. It doesn't take much to throw an image out of focus.
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Maybe take the cam apart, and adjust the focus of the lens just a tad. IE find a happy medium.
move it just slightly off the wall with spacers, to give it a little air flow behind it.
Just thinking out loud.
 
looney2ns said:
Maybe take the cam apart, and adjust the focus of the lens just a tad. IE find a happy medium.
move it just slightly off the wall with spacers, to give it a little air flow behind it.
Just thinking out loud.
Click to expand...

My first thought was to take the camera apart and mess with it, so maybe I'll give that a go. I did some testing yesterday by putting a piece of cardboard up over it as a sun shield and it seemed to help with the problem fairly quickly. It looks to be a combination of glare and sun heat that cause it to go out of whack. I say heat as well because even when it has gone back into full shade it takes it a long time to come back into focus. The camera is mounted to the wall using the PFA139 junction box, so I don't think its own internal heat is causing any problems. This all started as soon as the sun position changed enough in the sky for it to receive a dose for about 3 hours a day and I did my best with its position on the wall to try and mitigate the exposure. Unfortunately, it's just not something I can test for all year round. I know someone posted up a schematic of a shield that had been designed for this camera, but I can't for the life of me find it. I don't think it's on the market yet either. I may end up making my own if worse comes to worse.
 
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